


October prompts: Chronic pain

by theonetruenorth



Series: October writing prompts 2020 [21]
Category: Deus Ex (Video Games)
Genre: Chronic Pain, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, October prompts 2020, Whumptober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:21:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27181708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theonetruenorth/pseuds/theonetruenorth
Summary: Frank could see that something was wrong as soon as Adam walked into their apartment.
Relationships: Adam Jensen/Francis Pritchard
Series: October writing prompts 2020 [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948783
Comments: 1
Kudos: 38





	October prompts: Chronic pain

**Author's Note:**

> Not beta-read.  
> Post-Mankind Divided and System Rift, set up somewhere in the near future. Established relationship (in Human Revolution time), non-lethal gameplay, saved Jim Miller from being poisoned. Task Force 29 still operates in Prague.  
> Set in the same universe as ["In the shadows"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26883625).

Frank could see that something was wrong as soon as Adam walked into their apartment. 

The curt greeting was the first sign, though that was not unexpected after a particularly long day. Neither were the shadows under Adam’s eyes once his lenses retracted. But that, combined with the careful, calculated way Adam shrugged off his coat and limped to the bathroom gave Frank enough information.

Frank sighed, put the take-out Chinese he had ordered earlier into the oven to keep it somewhat warm and went after Adam. The other man was already in the shower, the glass foggy and Frank could see the way he leaned against the wall, shoulders heavy with exhaustion. He was pretty sure Adam had heard him approach, despite the noise of the water - as if anything or anyone could creep up on the man who was a walking definition of stealth - but he hadn’t acknowledged Frank. That was fine. Frank was there just to dig through the first aid kit, pulling out the necessary supplies and leaving without disturbing Adam’s shower.

It took a long time before Adam came into their bedroom, his bare feet absolutely silent against the hardwood floors. He stood there in the doorway for a moment, just looking at Frank who was sitting on their bed. A casual onlooker wouldn’t see anything wrong with Adam, but by now Frank could read him like an open book. He saw the way his jaw tensed, the way his fingers shook ever-so-slightly, the way he took in measured, steady breaths.

“Here,” Frank handed him a pair of painkillers and a glass of water and Adam took both. If Frank wasn’t convinced that Adam was in pain before he would be now - Adam didn’t even protest, didn’t make a joke about Frank secretly poisoning him. “Lay down.”

“You don’t have to—”

“Lay down, Adam,” Frank interrupted the half-hearted protest, taking Adam’s elbow and tugging him gently towards the bed. He settled down with a little sigh of relief, face halfway hidden in the soft pillow.

“Is it your arms or legs this time?” Frank sat at the edge of the bed and took a couple of chemical heat packs he brought out earlier, breaking the discs inside and feeling them warm up instantly. He waited for the reluctant answer.

“Arms.”

Frank only hummed in response. It wasn’t uncommon for the augmented to still experience phantom pains after losing a limb. Neuropozyne actually helped a lot, but Adam, as the only one who didn’t actually need it to function, refused to take it on the grounds that other people needed it more. Which was such an Adam thing to do, really, even if that left him with a flare-ups of pain like this. 

Frank lost himself in his thoughts as he carefully laid the heat packs along Adam’s shoulders and back, over the aching muscles and places where flesh met metal. There really was no rhyme or reason for Adam’s pain returning. He could go months without no problem at all and then, all of the sudden, it happened a couple times a week. Doctors thought that things like bad weather or stress could induce a phantom sensation, but shitty weather and stressful situations were Adam’s daily bread now, especially in Prague and the ticking time-bomb it became.

“There,” Frank said as he placed the last heat pack just under the right shoulder blade, in a spot that Adam sometimes complained about. “Painkillers should kick in soon and then you should try to eat something. There are some extra spring rolls with your name on it."

“My hero,” Adam deadpanned, his voice tired and soft, no longer hiding his exhaustion. He nuzzled deeper into the pillows, the evenly distributed warmth along his back pulling him into a doze.


End file.
